Wednesday, July 29, 2015

St. JAMES' HOSPITAL

Maybe 1339
with the legacy of Cardinal Pietro Colonna, as written on a plaque in the
courtyard

It was also
known as Ospedale S. Giacomo degli Incurabili (St. James' Hospital of
the Incurables) with disarming lack of confidence in the health service of the
time or Ospedale S. Giacomo in Augusta (St. James in Augusta Hospital)
for its proximity to the Mausoleum of Augustus, which had been
transformed into a fortress of the Colonna family

It was
granted in 1515 by Leo X Medici (1513/21) to terminally ill patients with the
exception of those with leprosy and plague

Of this
ancient building remain the FAÇADE on Via Ripetta and a marble relief on a
landing of the staircase with “Madonna” by Andrea
Bregno (1418/1503)

Modified
about 1584 by Francesco Capriani aka Francesco da
Volterra (1535/94) who also designed the church of S.
Giacomo in Augusta

Rebuilt
again 1842/44 by Pietro Camporese the Younger
(1792/1873)

In 1929 it
was converted into a hospital emergency room and in 1950 the general hospital
activity began again

In the
years 2004/08 there was a very expensive complete renovation with purchase of
modern medical technology, only to decide to close permanently the hospital in
the same year 2008: a waste of public money for an impressively disgusting
speculation by Italian corrupt politicians

A marble
plaque near Via del Corso 494 recalls how this hospital has received
continuously running water since 1572, coming from the Aqua
Virgo roman aqueduct: it is definitely the oldest single user to
have received water continuously in Rome, probably in the world